Category Archives: Music and musicology

Keri Alkema: A Journey of Transformation

Posted on May 22, 2018 by barczablog

Today’s noon-hour recital at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre aka the foyer of the Four Seasons Centre was unlike any we’ve seen before. Readers of this blog may recall that I’ve expressed my admiration for Keri Alkema in my reviews of … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Desdemona, Don Giovanni, Donizetti, Donna Elvira, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Keri Alkema, madama butterfly, mezzo-soprano, Otello, Rachel Andrist, Sondra Radvanovsky, Un ballo in maschera, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | 1 Comment

Hockey Noir

Posted on May 11, 2018 by barczablog

I love ambition. Tonight I was plunged into a world completely unlike anything I’ve encountered in opera, and it will be replayed tomorrow. Okay, performed again I should say, even if it does feel like a hockey game at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Andre Ristic, Cecil Castelucci, ECM+ Continuum, Ensemble contemporain de Montreal (ECM+) and the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, Guy Lafleur, Richard Wagner, Toronto Comic Arts Festival, Veronique Lacroix | 1 Comment

Questions for David Fallis: Toronto Consort & Monteverdi’s Orfeo

Posted on May 9, 2018 by barczablog

When I interviewed David Fallis five and a half years ago concerning a period production of Der Freischütz my first sentence said that he “is surely one of the most important musical minds in Canada,” an assertion that has only gathered weight with … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Bud Roach, Charles Daniels, Choir 21, Claudio Monteverdi, Cory Knight, David Fallis, Katherine Hill, Kevin Skelton, Laura Pudwell, Michele DeBoer, Opera Atelier, Orfeo, Toronto Consort | 2 Comments

All –Beethoven Tafelmusik Finale

Posted on May 4, 2018 by barczablog

Tonight’s programme from Tafelmusik was the first of their season-ending concerts at Koerner Hall. We heard Beethoven’s violin concerto & the Pastorale symphony. Thinking about moustaches & tears earlier this week, it felt serendipitous to be studying the same sort … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Psychology and perception, Reviews | Tagged Beethoven, Bruno Weil, Elisa Citterio, Koerner Hall, Pastoral Symphony, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Violin concerto | 2 Comments

Cry for me

Posted on May 2, 2018 by barczablog

Some actions are startlingly ambiguous. Right now for example I’m not shaving my upper lip. Am I growing a moustache –which would be an action—or am I simply not shaving my upper lip? I had that thought, thinking about a … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Psychology and perception | Tagged Beethoven, Debussy, Dumbo, Field of Dreams, JFK, Mozart effect, Parsifal, Poulenc, The Post, This is your Brain on Music, Wagner | 6 Comments

Against the Grain Orphée+

Posted on April 28, 2018 by barczablog

Orphée+? That plus sign might signify an opera updated, enlarged, perhaps even reformed(?). The “+” means some remarkable additions and changes from Gluck’s original, Orphée et Eurydice (or the Italian version aka Orfeo ed Euridice). Gluck created more than one … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Popular music & culture, Reviews | Tagged aerials, Against the Grain Theatre, Barbara Hannigan, burlesque, John Gzowski, Marcy Richardson, Mireille Asselin, Opera Columbus, Robert Carsen, S Katy Tucker, Siman Chung, Topher Mokrzewski | 2 Comments

Candide with the Toronto Symphony: using our imaginations

Posted on April 27, 2018 by barczablog

Tonight was the first of two concert performances of Candide presented by the Toronto Symphony at Roy Thomson Hall in the worldwide celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s centennial year. Earlier this week Joseph So was rapturous in his description of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Bramwell Tovey, Candide, Cunegonde, Glitter and be gay, Judith Forst, Leonard Bernstein, Nicholas Phan, Richard Suart, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Tracy Dahl | 5 Comments

Ulysses comes home

Posted on April 22, 2018 by barczablog

Opera Atelier’s Revival of Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses (1640) starts slowly but builds to a strong finish. By intermission I had enjoyed a few moments (Kresimir Spicer in the title role and Mireille Lebel as Penelope, and Meghan Lindsay … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Carla Huhtanen, Charles Daniels, Christopher Enns, David Fallis, Douglas Williams, Kresimir Spicer, Laura Pudwell, Marshall Pynkoski, Meghan Lindsay, Mireille Lebel, Monteverdi, Opera Atelier, Return of Ulysses, Tafelmusik Orchestra | 1 Comment

Eagerly anticipating Against the Grain’s Orphée⁺ next week

Posted on April 21, 2018 by barczablog

I’m writing about Against the Grain Theatre right now as I think about their imminent co-production of Gluck’s opera, that they are calling Orphée⁺ (the original press release said “an international co-production between AtG, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and Opera Columbus“, … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged aerial, Against the Grain Theatre, burlesque, Canadian Opera Company, erwartung, Gluck, Joel Ivany, Opera Atelier, Opera Columbus, Orphee, Robert Lepage, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Topher Mokrzewski | Leave a comment

Questions for Tracy Dahl

Posted on April 19, 2018 by barczablog

In the recent Canadian Opera Company Cosi fan tutte from just over 4 years ago, Tracy Dahl’s sparkling portrayal of Despina was the breath of fresh air that we desperately needed in Atom Egoyan’s dark intense interpretation. Here’s what I … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Interviews, Music and musicology, Opera | Leave a comment